Surveys List

We received a letter today from the US Dept of State (the Passport people)...

...asking us to send either:

Hana's certificate of citizenship if she has one (which she doesn't)

OR one of the following:Her Green Card (the actual card, not a copy)Her Ethipian passport with the US entry visa attached with the date of entry stampOr some sorta letter from USCIS indicating her legal entry into the country.

We sent her Green Card...and the letter back (as requested). Hopefully indeed they only require one of the afore mentioned pieces of data...

The Process Overview

-Find Placement Agency - there are no California placement agencies for Ethiopia. Actually, there are only a handful licensed in Ethiopia to conduct adoptions in America. So, you have to find one of those...and establish a relationship with them.

-Fill out out the I600A application for advance processing of orphan petition. Accompanying this application you'll need: birth/marriage certificates, proof of employment, proof of health insurance coverage for an adopted child, and of course a fee.

-Complete the homestudy - consisting of interviews, lots of papers, letters from friends, fingerprinting with child abuse index check, and an actual inspection of your home.

For the Placement Agency - Dossier

Contracts and feesIntroduction letter to Ethiopina GovernmentFamily registration formLetter to the orphanage ToukoulLetter to the Ethiopian GovernmentFinancial information formLetter from BankLetters of reference x2Letters from EmployerMedical formsMarriage certificateBirth certificates for parentsDeed to homePower of attorneyPassport photos (2 of each parent)Family picturesEthiopian Program ListHomestudy agency licenseObligation of homestudy agency to do post-placement reportsHomestudy reportState Criminal Clearance LetterUSCIS approval I171H form

Things to gather for Homestudy Agency

Contracts and fees signedEstablish Fedex accountAutobiographies - before first homestudy visitAuthorization to release information formAuthorization for release of information formMedical reports for each parentMedical reports for each member of household, including kidsEmployment VerificationReference letters (4)Livescan fingerprintingFinancial statementCopy of financial statement to be used in dossierBank statementsFederal income tax 1040 form last 3 yearsHousing statementGuardiaship statementPersonal information sheetFamily photo and family of parentsCopy of birth certificatesCopy of passportsCopy of marriage certificateHIPPA Authorization forms (ability to transfer medical info)School performance report for each kidCompletion of education courses - book, test, online coursesDeed to our homeCriminal record statementExplanation of incidentCertifed Court documents of the incident

Information needed to send with I600A form to USCIS

ApplicationCopy of birth certificatesCopy of marriage certificatesCopies of passportsProof of medical coverage for adopted childFee for fingerprintingHomestudy reportFBI fingerprinting

Obtaining the State Police Clearance Letter In California

Refer to this website - Office of the Attorney General DOJ. Take note of the far right hand column about half-way down - the information about "Visa/Immigration and Foreign Adoptions".

Find a Livescan facility to get your fingerprints done (this is a separate livescan from the one you do for your homestudy agency; and they cannot 'save' fingerprints on the computer, so you have to do it twice, and pay twice).

They will mail you a printout to your home - no criminal record may take 1 day. Yes criminal record? Took 35 days for us.

Once the printout arrived, looking very unofficial, I called DOJ. Of course I got the run around as most of the automated pre-recorded messages are not very helpful - so I left a message. But there is one person who was tremendously helpful: (916) 227-3807, her name is Lena. She said she'd mail us a letter, on letterhead with a seal.

Two days later, a letter arrived - on letterhead with a Seal impression and signature. Attached to the letter is a printout (the same printout they initially mailed to us san the letter).

So, after getting the print-out, we had to call Lena and have her subsequently mail us the 'letter.'

Definitions

Apostille - legalization of a document for international use under the terms of the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents

Authentication - authentication of public official signatures on documents to be used outside the United States of America. The country of destination determines whether the authentication is an Apostille or Certification (basically legalization of a document for international use in a country *not* apart of the Hague Convention).